Nirmada: Interior Design in New York City

This time of year  I’m especially grateful for our wonderful clients, sales reps, colleagues and friends. Without them, well, we wouldn’t be here. I have one client in particular for whom  I’ve designed three apartments, her mother’s home, her uncle’s apartment buildings, and her niece’s room….

Yesterday I received the most wonderful gift in the mail from her from Charley Harper Studios. When this client and I began working together, we were shopping in the Todd Oldham for La-Z-Boy showroom here in Soho and fell in love with these quirky, colorful prints.  I’ve never been a big fan of La-Z-Boy, or Todd Oldham, but we were immediately drawn to these graphic masterpieces.

Charley Harper passed away on Sunday, June 10, 2007. Charley was born in West Virginia in 1922.  He graduated from, and taught art at, the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he met wife, Edie, also an artist. The two married in 1947 after graduating.

In the 1950′s Harper gained acclaim as a commercial illustrator with “The Golden Book of Biology” and “Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two cookbook.” Over the ensuing two decades he contributed to the Ford Motor Company’s magazine, Ford Times. The response to this work was so positive, it led to his silkscreen print business reproducing those images. Charley’s paintings have appeared in nature-oriented magazines and on posters for many conservation-minded organizations, among them the National Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Nature Center, Hamilton County (Ohio) Park District, the Michigan Audubon Society, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. Besides “The Golden Book of Biology” he has illustrated “The Animal Kingdom”, Birds & Words”; and “Beguiled by the Wild; The Art of Charley Harper.”

Charley has designed over 50 “bio” posters for non-profit conservation groups, nature centers and zoos, United States national parks and monuments, and international wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere preserves. One of the first federally commissioned posters was the ecology of Glacier Bay National Park in the 1960′s. He also designed interpretive displays for Everglades National Park. He had produced more than 100 limited-edition silk-screen prints.

When once asked to describe his art style, Harper replied, “When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don’t see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures. I regard the picture as an ecosystem in which all the elements are interrelated, interdependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming or unutilized parts; and herein lies the lure of painting; in a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe.”

When I went to Cincinnati this summer for the ASID CLC, I made a quick trip over to the Cincinnati Art Museum, and perused through many of his prints which are for sale in the gift shop there.  For some reason,I didn’t purchase any….maybe I sent something out there to the Universe?

I’m thinking this might become a Christmas tradition… Thank you, thank you!

New York City is the only city I’ve lived in where the garbage is just put right on the street.  When I lived in  San Francisco,  the garbage men pulled the discreet truck in and carted away our cast offs. In DC, the basement was neatly organized with the weeks’ waste which was conveniently hauled off every Tuesday. But in New York, there’s no hiding. The dump that is the sidewalk outside my crowded apartment building bi-weekly becomes a seething bevy of unwanted garbage, paper, plastic, and sometimes…..FURNITURE.

Okay, I must admit I have picked up a couple of street gems  since I moved here 8.5 years ago…And my amazing, perfect, mid-century Danish dresser was rescued from the basement of a 54th street apartment building….but I’ve often wondered about other New Yorkers who furnish their homes with street-trash finds…

So I  had to share the latest marketing stint from Blu Dot-

What would you do if you saw this chair abandoned on the sidewalk? Keep walking? Or take it?’

It’s  a question many New Yorkers pondered in a few weeks ago when 25 brand-new $129 Blu Dot chairs were dispersed throughout NYC. The company did the experiment to celebrate the year anniversary of their SoHo store. They thought, “What would happen if we left a bunch of Real Good Chairs all over New York, free for the taking? Who will grab them? Where will they go? How will they get there? What will their new homes look like?”

would you take it home?

To answer these questions, they embedded GPS tracking devices on the chair and set up hidden cameras around each drop-off location. Then they waited and watched.

In one Brooklyn neighborhood, the chair lasted a mere ten seconds. But surprisingly in other areas, many people walked by without giving the chair a second thought. Others stopped and inspected it, but continued on their way. In Chinatown, the chair sat there for an hour and a half.

look good in your Living Room?

The chairs eventually went to 25 different homes and Blu Dot followed up with each new owner to find out what happened for their mini documentary. I laughed my way through the eight-minute video, admittedly embarrassed recalling the many times I’ve pondered such a heist – “is it a real Eames?” “OK, it’s Knoll, so would it be worth it to reupholster?”.  It’s he best PR stunt I’ve seen in years; and one I’m sure every New Yorker can relate to!

Watch the experiment:

Blu Dot Real Good Experiment from Real Good Chair on Vimeo.

This year we joined the Sustainable Furnishings Council after meeting them at the Architectural Digest Home Show. Today we got a holiday card from them and I thought it was so brilliant I had to share.

To become part of this wonderful organization as a designer we had to pledge to:

Right on the heels of my Caribbean inspired post, fresh out of the Pantone color guide is 2010’s color of the year, number 15-5519 Turquoise.

The global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, selected the luminous color based on its juxtaposition of tranquil blue notes and energizing green tones. In the essence of color therapy, the hue should evoke soothing, serene emotions, while restoring vigor, zest, and motivation.

We are happy to note that one of our current projects includes an entire Living Room bathed in this beautiful hue.

We also recently purchased a Saarinen Womb Chair for a client  in the intense, yet pleasing color:

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute says, “In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color. It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many—taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.” (from www.InteriorDesgin.net)

A universally flattering color with warm and cool undertones, Turquoise complements neutrals, reds, deep blues, greens, and yellows, making it exceptionally easy to translate to fashion and interiors.

A sign of things to come?

The past few days I’ve been working with a potential client who is leasing some prime office space here in Manhattan on Madison Ave. They thought they could pretty much use the space the as-is, but as I asked them more questions, I saw that we would have to make at least some minor modifications to the space. They also were planning to move in on January 1st….

In hopes of avoiding the last minute scramble to try and make the virtually impossible happen for a client, I wanted to provide a post on basic tenant fit-out costs in NYC. We want our potential clients to be armed with the proper information to plan wisely, from both a timing and a budget standpoint.

1- How much space do we need to lease to accommodate our needs?
Estimating your initial space requirements is never an exact science, and square foot measurement can vary considerably from one space to the next. It is wise to have Nirmada perform a“test-fit” of your space prior to signing your lease. The “test fit” includes generic programming to ensure the space you’re leasing accommodates your needs. This program will carry through the entire process and you do not want to limit your choices too early, particularly in the site selection process.
More often than not, it is necessary to make changes to the existing layout of a piece of space to suit your particular business.

Some general guidelines based on office size:

10,000 Square Feet and Under

Most tenants leasing under 10,000 sq. ft. generally try to make do with the space as they find it. These tenants make decisions regarding which space to choose out of a desire to avoid the construction process which can involve time and expense. For spaces under 10,000 square feet this might be appropriate, particularly if you need space quickly. Since the construction process alone can take one month to design and at least two to three months to build-out, smaller tenants do not have time to wait for the space to be completed, nor have the money to pay rent on two locations while one is being built.  Beware of contractors who will tell you “two-to-three weeks”.   Be sure to factor in planning, construction drawing, permitting and filing stages and landlord approval. Add these times together and two-to-three weeks easily becomes three months.

If you work in an open plan environment there is a good possibility that you will find space that will roughly approximate your needs. Some construction items are more important than others while some space may appear perfect if a few walls are moved, it can often become a more costly process. Sometimes even small modifications to space can be unusually costly. Moving a wall can have a domino effect on related costs. Purely cosmetic changes, such as painting and installing new carpet have fewer hidden costs.

10,000 to 25,000 Square Feet

If your space requirement is in the 10,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet range, it will be more difficult to find spaces that match your requirements as is. It’s a good idea to work with us to “test fit” your potential space to make sure it can work for you, with as few modifications as possible.

25,000 Square Feet and Above

If your requirement is over 25,000 square feet, it is likely you will be involved in a construction process, which from start to finish will take at least four to six months. For projects over 25,000 square feet, it is imperative you work closely with your designer from the beginning to help guide you through the construction process. The designer act as the owner representative with regard to construction issues.

Can I avoid construction and save money?

If you plan on using an existing space and think that you can cost effectively make a few alterations, THINK AGAIN!

Realize that as you plan to alter space by moving walls that your flexibility can be severely limited by the existing ceiling configuration. As we start to review the space, we begin to see  every office has electrical outlets, a vent, and a light. To the extent that you move walls, you may be creating offices that need ventilation, electricity and lighting and currently have none. At first you may think that it will be easy just to put electrical lighting and ventilation in an office. It is not. The cost to redo a number of offices often meets or exceeds the cost to tear down that space and start over. Regardless of what anyone tells you it is not possible to build office space from scratch at less than $50 per square foot (very plain finishes), and more likely it will cost $70 per square foot.

Also important to know is that the process of packing more people into an existing space has the effect of running up costs. One of our clients budgeted improvements for 70 employees but needed to pack over 90 people into the same 14,000 square foot floor required expenditures for more electrical outlets and increased cooling.

Altering a space configuration by moving walls is not impossible, just bear in mind the related costs and that (obviously) exterior walls, walls which partition space from elevator shafts, building core elements or water pipes cannot be moved.

Note: it is important that prior to signing a lease you contact us to help you assess the costs of reuse.

Read part 1 of Estimating a Renovation Budget here.